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A bankruptcy court on Tuesday reversed an earlier decision and said Hawker Beechcraft can go ahead and sell the last 20 of its Hawker 4000 business jets, the Wichita Eagle has reported. Current owners of the jets have protested the sell-off, asking the court to slow down the process to help preserve the value of the fleet. Three weeks ago, the court said the company shouldn't rush to sell off the airplanes at deep discounts. The judge now says the sales can proceed, but Hawker must report each sale and the purchase price to the court, according to the Eagle.

Hawker has said it would sell the jets, which had a sticker price of about $20 million, at about one-third of that price. The company told the court it wants to sell the airplanes quickly before new, more efficient competitors from Cessna and Embraer reach the market. Hawker has said it plans to abandon its jet line and emerge from bankruptcy with its piston and turboprop lines intact. This week, Hawker is in Dubai at the Middle East Business Aviation expo, showing its line of King Air twin turboprops. AVweb's editor-in-chief Russ Niles spoke with aviation analyst Richard Aboulafia on Monday about the Hawker bankruptcy and the company's future; click here to listen to that podcast interview.